Dark Minnows
by BlackBerryBush
Summary: PAIRED WITH WIDENUM'S STORY / The daughter of the clan deputy, Minnowpaw, was always timid and soft-spoken. She doesn't talk back, she doesn't stick out, and she's terrible at hunting. Once day, a dark-pelted former-rogue waltzes into her peaceful clan and destroys everything she's ever known about herself and the cats around her - it's when a sheep and a wolf fall in love.
1. Chapter 1

Minnowkit gazed off of the top of a smooth, flattened rock. Her eyes trailed along the horizon that slowly darkened as sunset came. She wondered if she'd ever get to see her mother, or who she was.

"Kitty-pet lover!" Adderkit lashed his tail across the stone flooring of the nursery. He chuckled, "Your father loved kittypets so much he had you!"

She never understood Adderkit. All the other kits would play with her just fine, but when it came to it, Adderkit always had to mock her for whatever reason he chose to have.

"Be quiet," she managed to hiss out, "You twig." her eyes dilated and she moved to the other side of the den.

"Kittypet lover, kittypet lover, kitt-" His ears suddenly batted to the sides of his oval-like head and he locked eyes with Tornwhisker, a very popular playmate for kits.  
Tornwhisker stared at the young, cream-colored tom with extreme seriousness in his eyes.

He mewed harshly, "You'd better stop that, now," he scolded him, crossing his tail over his paws. "I don't want any of that attitude in this here den."  
"Yes, Tornwhisker," the scolded tom replied. "I won't do it no more."

That was a blatant lie, the very next day he was back to taunting and teasing. His words were so soft and easily came up with, but they ran against Minnowkit's skin like razor blades every time. She hardly knew how to come back to his insults, so she just stood there and looked at him like he was a pure-blown dark forest cat. Still, though, every time she would stare at him, he would look at her back and start slurring insults he had come up with on the spot.

"I'm sick, Minnowkit," he rasped up one day, coughing and spattering. He croaked out, "It looks like you're sick too... Lovesick! For kittypets!"

"You twig!" she retorted back, about to pounce on him and actually fight him for what he's done. "If you don't stop, I'll tell Tornwhisker!"

"Tell him, kittypet lover, tell him!" Adderkit's eyes sparkled with amusement and he trotted out of the nursery.

Apprenticeship seemed to come quickly. Badda bing, badda boom, you're now an apprentice, it felt like. She never seemed to grasp the concepts of fighting. Apprenticeship made her realize how much of a sticky situation she'd been in if she had tried to fight Adderkit all those times. The more she looked at him progress into aging, the more she noticed his physical features, like the ripped muscles beneath his thin layer of creamy fur, topped with an adept sense of hunting. Minnowpaw felt ashamed whenever she was standing near him, just because her physical size could never acquaint to the size of his. He had stopped teasing her, but nothing would stop him from one-upping her. Even the best hunting day she'd had, where she caught three whole mice, Adderpaw had caught four heavier, thicker on the fat, perfectly-killed shrews.  
Her mentor, Speckledfur, tried to teach her the ways of the boundaries, but nothing helped her remember. Her mind was as good as a thick-headed thrush. She forgot things about three seconds after she was informed of them. Patrolling was the worst part. Relying on other cats to help you was not her flow, and it made her embarrassed to do anything at all. During a patrol one day, Rocktooth was hogging on about this strange scent he smelled. He swore he smelled it, but nobody else smelled it. He walked right into a bush while talking about it, and tripped over someone hiding.

Basically, it was this dark-colored cat. She didn't get too much of a good glimpse of him before all the other cats jumped on him and started to pull him towards camp. Yeesh, it was a bit harsh in her opinion. Anyways, he kept trying to say things but everyone else was meowing and hollering loudly so nobody could hear a thing.  
Quickly after, they threw him in the clan 'dungeon' until they were going to figure out what to do with him.

Minnowpaw also didn't exactly understand the concept of 'accepting an apology'. Someone would apologize for anything and she'd say, "Oh, okay, cool." It felt awkward, to her, to hear someone actually apologize for doing whatever it was they did. It was a mystery knowing if she accepted your apology or not.  
So, when Adderpaw waltzed over with an apology clogged in his throat, Minnowpaw had never felt more awkward.

"Sorry for being rude to you an' all when we were kittens," he had spoken, while she was basking in the sun of New-leaf. "I hope you can forgive me."

Minnowpaw felt a metaphorical beetle crawling in her stomach, making her sick and still unable to respond. Her eyes bulged and she could hardly intake her own air at this point. She ran off without another word, while Adderpaw stared at her like she was crazy.

"Alright, then, catch you later," the muscular tom tilted his head as she sprinted away.

The dark cat was very popular in the clan. Everyone knew his name except for her, because she didn't want to know his name. Being someone's friend? No thanks. Not up for it.

Her eyes would sometimes lose themselves and climb up to the holding-dungeon, noticing his whiskers sticking out from the den, muzzle clenched as he tried to sneak his way out. Usually, he was caught before he could make a run for it, and punished severely. (At least, that's what she heard.) As soon as she noticed the glinting eyes staring back at her, she broke her gaze and would do literally anything else.

She'd deny it if anyone asked, but she was terrified of the enclosed tom. Something about him made her stomach bubble and croak, so you can understand her pure terror when it was proclaimed that the tom would train as a regular apprentice in the clan, and if he succeeded his training he would become an official warrior. When he was free to roam, he did most of his duties as asked; though he still had time for trouble on the sidelines. The tom received little to no backlash from the clans because he was so popular with the cats already; but Minnowpaw still couldn't dare to ask anyone for his name - and _especially_ not him.

While she cleaned her paws one day as the sun set into the multi-chromatic sky, black fur sputtered across her face and green eyes glowed back to her. Her stomach tossed and turned over itself, staring back at the eyes before her. The face of the scary cat stood right there before her, and her stomach burned with nervousness.

"Come hunt with me!" He smiled at her, flicking his tail towards the hunting grounds.

"I can't," she began with fear in her throat. "Like, I can't, I'm horrible at hunting."

"I know," the black tom snickered. "I'm gonna teach you. Follow me!"

The feeling of so-called horror that was rumbling inside of her belly now flowered into something she'd never felt before, and her eyes were focused on his. Was he really going to help her hunt? From what she'd seen, he was a great hunter - and she was _so_ not. As much as she wanted to go with him to hunt, she knew there was a catch. She didn't want to be involved in his mischief, so she was reluctant to agree. However, before she could overthink it, he gently ordered her to follow him, and as much as she wanted to tell him to halt to let her think, she couldn't deny his enthusiastic smile.

She followed him to the hunting clearing, his tail fur swiping against her muzzle once in a while as they ran. She closely followed behind him, having no idea where anything was, even after it being pounded into her head by her mentor.

"We're here!" The tom exclaimed, turning back to face her.

The bushes behind him rustled with squirrels and mice that scuttled free, and the setting sun illuminated the lake and thistle bushes below. The beautiful dome above their heads flowered with stars that could almost faintly be seen beneath the daylight masking, and the moon was translucent against the clouds that drifted across. The two cats glowed beneath the dark enhancement of the stars, their eyes glazed like celestial bodies.

Perhaps this frightening cat wasn't so bad, after all.

"Try jumping at that squirrel," the tom suggested, eyeing the brown ball of fluff. "Just keep your body balanced and remain calm."

Minnowpaw leaned to touch her muzzle with the somewhat long grass, keeping her eyes completely solid on the prey. She parted her jaws, allowing the scent to flow to her tongue. _Don't mess up_ , her mind urged. If she failed in front of the once imprisoned tom, she'd never live it down. She pushed against the slightly-dewish grass, extending her front paws for the unsuspecting squirrel. She tackled the prey with her jaws, gripping it tightly around the neck. For a second, pride seared through her and she looked back to her teacher, but the moment was cut short as she slipped and skidded against the grass, causing her to tumble against the hills, free-falling towards the lake.

"Minnowpaw!" The tom exclaimed, following her as she rapidly squirmed down the hill.

She clambered into the thistle patches, which barely stopped her from scrambling into the lake. Sighing, she struggled to raise her chest, feeling blood lightly trickle from a few thistle scratches.

"Minnowpaw," the tom gasped, running to her side. "Oh my Starclan, tell me you're okay,"

She couldn't believe how much pain was in his eyes, and true worry that clouded his vision.

"I'm fine," she pouted, upset that she managed to embarrass herself again. "There's just a lot of thistles in my fur."

Minnowpaw warned the oddly-kind tom to back up before shaking her fur free from the sharp thistles, sighing with sadness at her fail. The sky was darkening even quicker than she once thought, and she sat herself in front of the rippling water. The tom scooted closer to her, tail laced around her back to comfort her.

"I'm sorry," she inhaled quietly. "I didn't mean to fall."  
"Not your fault," he replied with a slow blink of his eyes. "I shouldn't have made you jump straight to those bushes."

She curled her head into his shoulders, letting his radiating warmth lull her to sleep.

"Why are you being nice to me?" She interrogated, but she heard no reply before her mind sent her to dreamland.


	2. Chapter 2

"Nice catch," Adderpaw purred, leaning his upper trapezius into hers. "You might actually beat me one day."

"You think?" The she-cat raised a false eyebrow. "Just wait until my mentor sees how horribly it's killed. I'm gonna be lectured for _days_!"

He flipped her squirrel over to reveal the long claw swipes against its spinal cord, still slightly oozing blood. She looked down at it sadly, feeling so much disappointment from one single catch. She couldn't really explain it, but she knew it'd bring down her whole day.  
"It's a good start," Adderpaw smiled. "Come see me if you need any help hunting."

Minnowpaw glanced to his emerald eyes, searching for his purpose in talking to her. Why was every cat suddenly becoming buddy-buddy with her? Sure, she never really had any problems with people mocking her since her father became deputy, but nobody was super close to her, either. She never had a best friend, only mutual cats that she had nodded her head to once or twice. She smiled a bit, hoping to ease the awkwardness that was literally just poured all over them. Adderpaw's view seemed to be focused on on her eyes, never breaking once. To tell you the truth, she felt as awkward as a cat feels when they get their head stuck in a bramble bush while looking for a mouse. He was so much bigger than her, and yet he looked to her as if she was the same height as him.

"Actually, pretty boy," a black ruffle of fur pushed against her shoulders, bursting into their conversation. "I'm working with her."

"Really?" The creamy tom turned to Minnowpaw, searching for anything that could suggest he was lying. "I think she'd rather learn with the Clan's best hunter, however."

Minnowpaw's eyes gaped at the two toms glaring at each other, and never in her life had she been more confused. It couldn't be, the black-cat that she still had yet to learn the name of, and her kit-hood tormentor were _fighting_ over who got to train her? Her heart lurched inside of her chest, unaware of how to handle this. The two stared each-other down, probably insulting one another in their head if she had to guess. They both eagerly looked at her expectantly after having their glare-off, obviously wanting her input on their squabble.

"Oh, uh," she stuttered, blinking at her paws. "Why don't you both train me? I mean, I need all the help I can get!"

Adderpaw looked the significantly smaller tom, who had his fur fluffed up to improve his size. He then looked back to Minnowpaw, feeling her discomfort pack onto him like a ton of rocks. The creamy tom snickered and flicked his tail over Minnowpaw's shoulders, weaving it down her spine. The black tom's muscles seemed to stiffen at his touch to her, and he watched as the the creamy tail smoothed the fur on Minnowpaw's back carefully. He looked back to the smug look on Adderpaw's face soon after, as if he were taunting him.

"No, it's okay, he can train you." Adderpaw smiled, stretching out his legs before climbing back to the opposite side of her. "I'll see you around."

The black tom scrambled to face her, teeth baring slightly from his lips.  
"Who does that little rat think he is? Starclan, once I get my claws on him," he snarled between low hisses.

"Why are you so mad?" Minnowpaw snorted; man did it feel _good_ to talk back. "Is someone _jealous_?"

"M-me?" He stuttered, his pride down the drain. "Why would I be jealous?"

"Cuz," she leaned her head to the side. "He's a better hunter than you."

The color faintly returned to dark-furred features, and he narrowed his eyes. "He is _not_."

"Well, guess you wouldn't mind if I went and trained with him." she flicked her tail across his nose. She had no idea why, but somehow, all of this pride was racing to her head. Somehow, it was fun. Usually she'd be terrified of having a little bit of sass with anyone, but it was _so_ fun to do it to him. The way his eyes gaped made her feel in control, she guessed it was because she spent most of her time afraid of him, and now it was so easy to make him squirm beneath her theoretical paws.

"What? No! You," his scared eyes matched the rapid beating of his heart, before he relaxed when she saw her comedic manner. "Where did all your pride come from?"

"I don't know," she relaxed with a smile curled on her lips. "But I gotta get rid of it before my dad gets snappy."

He brushed his fur against hers, flicking his tail towards the clearing where they went last time.  
"Do you wanna head by the lake? I promise you won't get hurt this time, and we'll come back on time so your dad won't get upset."

"You're making a lot of promises," she smirked, already beginning to walk to the clearing. "Do you know me?"

"I think you're the one who doesn't know me," he stated with a calmer tone than he had before. "Do you even know my name?"

"Well, I," she began, but sighed halfway through, hanging her head as she shook it to say no.

They walked in silence for a few seconds, and Minnowpaw was almost certain he was angry with her, or maybe disappointed. Her pride, once as tall as a mountain, shrunk to the size of a moss ball for kits. She breathed in to say that she was sorry, but she couldn't even bear to talk. She wondered why he was still even walking with her, if he still wanted to be her friend. In a few seconds she felt as if she'd ruined everything that she never had, but the tom wasn't denying or confirming her thoughts.

"It's Darkpaw," he smiled, unexpectedly, to her. "Nice to meet you."


	3. Chapter 3

Darkpaw splashed his face into his moss bedding, ready to fall asleep. The memories of the lake with Minnowpaw was still fresh inside of his mind, and his chest fluttered subtly. He didn't know why, he didn't know how, but he loved the silver Egyptian Mau that was named Minnowpaw. He didn't truly realize it until Adderpaw was advancing on her. She didn't realize, but he did. If he hadn't butted in when he did... Well, nevermind. He _really_ didn't want to think about it. The only thing that was bad was that she thinks of him as nothing more than a friend, and he couldn't dare to hurt that. She reminded him of his cute little sister, who he couldn't protect when he had the chance. Not that he had a crush on his sister like he did on Minnowpaw, they were just very similar.

He stretched his hind-legs, unable to sleep. After another excruciatingly long period of two minutes, he decided to head to the dirt-place so he could move his legs just a bit. He tipped off the guards where he was going and clambered down the tunnel, sighing as he walked.

"So," he jumped a bit at the voice, turning around to face the creamy tom, who he had developed a serious hatred for in the span of today. "Do you like Minnowpaw?"

"None of your business." He responded curtly, turning away and proceeding down the tunnel. "And I recommended you stay out of hers, too."

"So you do," his eyes gleamed in the dark tunnel. "But it's a shame, she will never be mates with a _rouge_."

The black tom paused in his traces, hearing the clanking of Adderpaw's claws stop as well.  
" _Excuse me_?" He sneered. "Well, she'd never be mates with someone that tormented her when she was a kit."

 _"That Adder cat," he began, nuzzling the top of her head to keep her awake. "Can you tell me about him?"_

 _"I knew him when we were kits. He used to pick on me, cause my mom was probably a kittypet." Minnowpaw yawned, leaning her head into his chest fur with sleepiness._

 _"He picked on you?" The black tom sputtered with an emotion-salad of anger, sadness, sympathy, and more anger. "That tom will never see daylight again, Minnowpaw,"_

 _"He apologized," she tried to calm him down, still sleepily using him as a headrest. "And it was a long time ago."_

The cream-colored cat snarled, "She's forgiven me. But she'll never forgive a rouge."

His eyes burned with hatred for the muscular tom, and for a second he felt like gouging his rival's eyes out with a stick. He glanced away with a long sigh, trying to control his heartbeat.  
"You're lucky I'm not Puffs anymore," he scorned quietly.

"Puffs?" The tom jeered, eyes slightly narrowed at the corners in amusement. "Your rogue name was _Puffs_? I'm going to cry of laughter."

"Stop," the darkly colored tom warned.

"Oh no," Adderpaw gaped falsely. "Puffs is going to hurt me! I'm so scared,"

He smirked and curved in the other direction, waving his goodbye with his tail. He belittled, "Wait until Minnowpaw hears about this."

* * *

"The apprentices attending the gathering will be Barkpaw, Mintpaw, Spottedpaw, and Minnowpaw," Chivestar announced, his chest fluffed and his eyes narrowed to his clanmates. "We leave tonight at sunset."

"My first gathering!" Minnowpaw exclaimed to Darkpaw, eyes full of pride and joy for the event. "I'm sad you're not gonna be there with me."

"Don't be sad," Darkpaw flicked his tail to her shoulder. "Enjoy the night."

Darkpaw was on flea duty for the elders _all night_. Every time he would pluck a flea from the elders' ragged fur, he'd think of how much fun Minnowpaw was probably having, and how cute she'd look. If only he could stop thinking about such stupid things and tell her those stupid things instead. But, it didn't matter right now; he was over the moon that Adderpaw didn't go, too. Starclan knows what he'd try during the gathering without him there to intervene.

When he heard the faint pounding of paw-steps, his smile that he got from thinking about her grew bigger. They were back! And finally, too, he was getting lonely. He clambered outside of the elder's den (despite the protests of, "I still have fleas!") and waited for her to come into distance.

He perked his ears at her giggling, eyeing the skinny brown tom that walked close-by. He knew the tom as Barkpaw, but Darkpaw could care less. Apparently, Barkpaw was telling her some sort of story from what he'd heard. However, once again, Darkpaw did not care.

"Oh my Starclan," she chuckled. "Why did you think you could swim at two moons old?"

He watched her eagerly pass by him with the brown tom, not even acknowledging his jealous glare. It was obvious she wanted to be nothing more than friends, but he wasn't so sure for the tom next to her.

"I'm freezing," he fake-chattered his teeth, looking to Minnowpaw's worried eyes. "Are you?"

"Well, here," she pressed against his side, sharing her warmth with him. "I guess my fur's a little thicker than yours."

The tom grinned at her, flicking his tail over her back. "Yeah, I feel better. thanks."

Darkpaw's toes tingled in anger, watching his face curl into the sickest expression he'd ever seen. He was simply _using_ her; and she was completely oblivious. He couldn't let this happen to the cutest little spout he'd laid eyes on (y'know, aside from his sister).

"Hey, Minnowpaw!" Darkpaw called, grinning almost evilly when she broke apart from Barkpaw's fur.

"Hi!" She greeted happily. "This is Barkpaw, we sorta became quick friends at the gathering."

Their eyes matched and it seemed like Barkpaw understood his competition in this race. It was as if they shared a two-minute long conversation about the silver cat that stood next to them.

"Do you want to go to the lake today?" He asked without letting Barkpaw speak. "I heard it looks really pretty tonight."

"I'd love to," she began to smile, but shut herself down afterwards. "But Barkpaw's showing me the old badger's den that he used to hide in when he was a kit."

Barkpaw nodded, moving closer to Minnowpaw's pelt. "Maybe sometime else, Darkpaw," he snickered lightly, pulling her away.

His heart lurched that she was going to be alone with _him_ , the little mole-rat. He almost felt sick, thinking of all the horrible things that the skinny bastard could do. Maybe he was just paranoid, but he was actually scared for once.

* * *

Darkpaw didn't know what Barkpaw did to make Adderpaw so scared of him, but all he knew was the the cream-colored tom stayed far away from the skinny brown one. And because Barkpaw was such a thieving, dirty, minnow-hogging rat, Adderpaw steered away from Minnowpaw too.

"Minnowpaw," he whined, pushing Barkpaw away from her, since he had been clinging to her like a leech since the gathering. "Can we go to the lake today? Please? I've hardly seen you these past sunrises,"

She glanced to Barkpaw and back to him, sighing. "I promised Barkpaw I would-"

He couldn't explain why, but he got absolutely furious within the first few words of her sentence, and paused her with a flattening of his ears and an exhale from his nose.  
"Barkpaw this, Barkpaw that, is he your mate too?" He yelled, feeling utterly horrible when he saw her sad face. Yet, he didn't stop yelling for whatever reason. "Nevermind, I don't want to know!"

"That's not it and you know that," she retorted back, eyes glossy. "Why are you so upset?"

"I thought we," he paused himself and narrowed his eyes as Barkpaw's gleaming grin. This was _pleasing_ him. "I thought we were friends."

"I _am_ your friend!" she cried, bottom lip wobbling beneath her front fangs. "But friends don't act this way to other friends!"

"Maybe I don't want to be friends!" He exclaimed. Was he actually going to blurt out his feeling for her, right here, right now? With all of these cats watching?

For those few seconds of yelling, he had forgotten how innocent-minded she was, not ever thinking of mates and romantic relationships. She sprinted off in the other direction with a murmur of crying, and Barkpaw quickly followed after her.

So there he stood, mind-boggled and on the edge of tears; all because he had worded his statement wrong. He didn't want to lose her, but he most certainly did not want Barkpaw to have her.

Now that he thought about it, he didn't want _anyone_ but him to have her.


	4. Chapter 4

She returned to camp after hours of staying out, and Barkpaw was once again clinging to her fur like moss to wet fur. He didn't say anything to her as she climbed into the apprentice's den. He didn't even say anything when she dragged her nest from next to him to next to Barkpaw. Though it caused so many pangs of discomfort sleeping without her comforting smell, he didn't say anything.

When they were assigned as partners for a battle-training lesson, he let her win and didn't say anything. Though, when it was just them left in the battle-clearing, it was finally his turn to speak.

"I'm so sorry," he apologized, dipping his head. "I didn't mean for it to come out that way. I was just upset that I didn't get to spend any time with you. Don't take it the wrong way, but it's just soothing to be around you, and I'm usually really distant and sort-of an outcast, so being around you makes me feel different, and it's weird, but," he paused, shaking his head to stop himself from talking.

"Okay," she chuckled. "I get it. Wanna go hunting for a bit?"

Minnowpaw's mouth gaped to herself and her words. Did she just _accept_ an apology? Wholeheartedly and sincerely? Her chest burst once more, and she wondered what this tom was doing to her to make her so confident. She felt a smile creep quietly to her features, and she dipped her head to try and hide it.

Excitedly, the black tom shook his head and followed alongside her to the place they always went to. Mostly, she was quiet along the way, aside from a few chuckles here and then about Darkpaw tripping over his own paws through the whole way there. Around her, he was so clumsy. He tried so hard to look collected, but he was all over the place. His paws were stepping over each-other, and his tail got caught between his legs eighteen times. (Yes, he counted.)

Minnowpaw leaned down to the ground, the grass tickling her stomach as she crept slowly towards the feathered bird, which was peacefully chewing on some small seeds by a trunk.  
"Watch," she snickered proudly to Darkpaw. "I'm gonna catch it this time."

The bird fluttered across the ground, perking up a slight bit when Darkpaw threw a light stick towards the other direction than Minnowpaw was facing. The plan was, he'd distract and she'd go for the kill on the poor bird. She flicked her tail and pounced, trying to rear her shadow so the bird wouldn't spot it. The bird quickly stopped and flew away to a birch tree, perching on the highest branch and taunting the silver cat from above.

"Minnowpaw, the tree!" He advised loudly, noticing that if she continued to pounce in the same direction - she'd surely whack her head on the tree.

She curved her body, aiming away from the large oak tree as fast as she possibly could allow herself to move, only managing to catch her hind leg on the tree. She grunted in pain, curling her tail over her swollen leg, tears welling in her eyes at the wince-worthy pain.

"Get on my back," Darkpaw ordered, nuzzling his muzzle into the curve of her back. "I'm gonna take you to the medicine den."

She wanted to decline, to say that she could walk, but even the light swiping of the short grass caused burning pain against her leg. Naturally, she really didn't want to think of what would happen if she tried to walk on it. She arched her back, allowing Dark's head to slip under her, rolling onto his broad shoulders with wincing pain. Instinctively, she unsheathed her claws into the fur of his stomach, retracting them with a gasp as he groaned with pain.  
"No," he adjusted his posture. "Do whatever you have to do to hold on, I'm gonna run."

* * *

Dew-brimmed grass slicked against his hindquarters as he quickly snaked up to an unsuspecting vole. His claws rasped against the dark fur of the plump vole, biting the neck of it readily. The tom purred at his catch, flicking it closer to the mouse he had got earlier. Swiftly, he picked the two pieces of prey up in his jaws, taking the long way to camp as always. Minnowpaw had been in the medicine den overnight, and he planned to cheer her up. Thinking about it made his heart swell - a deep apology for his behavior and two thick pieces of prey, he just needed one more thing to make it better. Tabby fur locked with the thorns of a rosebush, but the tom couldn't care less about the minuscule pain in his flanks. Beautiful, freshly-bloomed red bundles of soft petals fluttered before his eyes, spiraling between thousands of pollen bunches and wedged between dark green, thorny spines. He grasped two rose clumps in his jaws and yanked them from their cluster, keeping them lodged between his vole and mouse.

The tom easily wired around the suspicious looks he had as he waltzed into camp, almost floating towards the Medicine Cat Den. Once he broke through into the musty, herbal den, he shut his eyes and spread the rose petals into every crevice, corner, and open margin. He could just imagine her joy for his own, her prim smile and throaty laugh - her eyes filled with mirth and delight at his arrival. As he opened his eyes, he saw the face of utter surprise and sorrow. Next to her was an ugly face of jeer and yet all the same anger.

"Darkpaw," Minnowpaw squeaked, glancing towards Barkpaw who had scooted closer to her. "Thanks for the pr-"

"I didn't bring it for _him_ ," he snarled, eyeing Barkpaw as if he were a scrawny mouse that he couldn't wait to sink his claws into.

Minnowpaw's glare seeped through him, but he held his stance angrily. Beady eyes from the brown tom peered back to him, and finally the thin mouth that belonged to him opened.

"We were having an important conversation," the tom smirked. "So why don't you leave that prey for us and run along?"

The dark tom opened his mouth to protest and most likely shoot an insult, but Minnowpaw's depressed gaze told him to do otherwise. Darkpaw dipped his striped head slightly, muttering a "Fine," as he left.

Darkpaw's mind swam with thoughts of both cats, what he could do to stop them from speaking. Several solutions floated inside of in his head, one solution that lingered above all his others left a horrible taste in his mouth; but it seemed like the only one that would work in his favor.

Dispose of the trash.


	5. Chapter 5

Barkpaw's whiskers ruffled against a plump vole, sinking his fangs into the fluffy, cracked fur. A smile plucked at his lips as Darkpaw trotted closer to him, an unreadable expression flickering against his features once in a while.

"Minnowpaw told me to tell you that she wants to meet you by the lake," Darkpaw frowned, looking away from him.

Deep inside of him, it was not the sadness of Minnowpaw meeting him - it was the chaos that com-busted against his skull as he thought of what he was going to do to this seemingly innocent cat. However, Darkpaw knew better. Barkpaw was not innocent - the skinny cat had ticked him off purposefully more than once and was using Minnowpaw. Surely, that was enough for what he was going to do, right? The tom tried not to think about it any longer as the brown cat smirked boastingly.

"Well then," the tom stretched out his paws, flicking his tail tip against Dark's muzzle. "How does it feel to become the little messenger boy? She's mine now, I've already asked her to be my mate - I'm sure she's meeting me to agree."

Darkpaw's eyes flickered with anger - and his claws unsheathed immediately. How _dare_ he? Minnowpaw wasn't an object to be 'bought' - she was a cat with feelings! Darkpaw's stomach bubbled up to his chest the more he thought about it, and his previous plans for him suddenly grew more gruesome and unforgiving. Quickly, he looked away, trying to hide the pure chaos that danced around his pupils.

"You lose!" Barkpaw taunted him and he sauntered away, his tail flicking with happiness and daunt.

For a second, Darkpaw really did feel like he lost - like the only cat he's truly loved more than a sibling had slipped out of his grasp. For a slim second, he felt like collapsing to the ground and weeping for his loss, but instead he ran out through the separate clan exit, making his way to the lake.

* * *

Barkpaw's paws rested on the dry ground beside the lake, which had been swollen up by no rain recently. By the clouds, it looked like it would rain later tonight, which made Darkpaw's plan ever better.

"Minnowpaw?" The brown tom asked, his ribs rippling through his pelt as he walked closer to the river.

"Not Minnowpaw," Darkpaw snarled, pouncing forward and pinning the tom down under his large fore-paws. "Just your worst nightmare."

"Let me go!" The tom howled, thrashing his limbs wildly under the tom.

Darkpaw wanted to make this as painful as possible for the tom, but he also knew that if he did anything more then some cat would surely come to investigate. He snarled and leaned into the toms windpipe, resting the tips of his fangs against the sides just to tease him.

"Stop! I-I'll stay away from her! I promise! I won't tell anyone!" the once boasting tom had turned to a shaking little kit under Darkpaw's will, and it _pleased_ him. It made Darkpaw joyful, almost, that his practical worst enemy was trapped underneath his paws with no way of biting, clawing, or scraping his way out; Darkpaw had completely trapped him.

" _Liar_ ," the tom seethed against the other tom's windpipe, clamping his jaws down harshly.

A wheeze of hot air escaped Barkpaw's jaw before his head fell back limp onto the ground, stirring up multiple layers of dust all around him. Darkpaw grinned lightly, pushing the tom into an abandoned fox den, where the smell of fox was still sharp. He would come back in the morning and wash him down the stream; and because it was so low the stench would stay. It was perfect - brilliant even - and Minnowpaw would have no idea he even did anything. _Nobody was going to take her away from him._

The dark-pelted tom padded back to camp, exhaust written on his face. For such a skinny cat, Barkpaw's body was _so difficult_ to push into the fox den and arrange so that it was staged like a death. Not to mention, the tom had to walk a huge distance to find a high-leveled stream to wash off his scent in; but it was worth it as long as that dirty rat was gone. He never deserved Minnowpaw, the tom was destined to prove that he was truly the one for her. Deftly avoiding the camp guards, he pounced into the shadow-filled apprentice's den and slunk next to Minnowpaw.

"Where were you?" her accusing glare and low whisper startled him.

"Dirtplace," he answered stiffly, resting his body next to hers.

"You're lying," he hissed out, narrowing her eyes.

"I got lost," he answered with a gulp, glad that she couldn't see. "Don't tell anyone, though, it's embarrassing."

Minnowpaw's nose twitched into his side, seeming to accept his lame excuse. She nestled her muzzle into the sides of his fur, brushing back into sleep. Darkpaw couldn't help but euphorically put down his head on her side as well, exhausted after his... _disposal_.

* * *

 **big fat note im not really trying on this im kinda just pushing it all out of my ass so pls dont kill me**


End file.
